The Force Returns

A long time ago in a galaxy…well, here, the Star Wars saga was created. Thirty-eight years ago, a man named George Lucas had an idea for a space fantasy film. He wrote hours a day and after various re-writes to finding the storyline and creating the perfect characters, he finished with one of the most iconic movies of all time: Star Wars.

With all the hype, it’s hard not be excited about it. Fans hold high hopes for the newest installation that hopes next Friday.

“I hope that they continue to keep the full essence of Star Wars of it being an adventure story,” sophomore Noah Davis said. “But I also hope that they develop the new characters really well, they have some really cool new characters in mind. I just hope that they develop them to a point that we can get attached to them, instead of them just being completely computer generated and there’s not really much of a story.”

It’s been 10 years since the last movie, Revenge of the Sith, was released. And now, the long awaited movie will open Dec. 18 to carry on what was left off.

“I hope that it clears up some of the things that left us wondering about after the Rebels beat the Empire, see if anyone is going to rise back up or maybe even if the Rebellion becomes what it was fighting against,” World Geography teacher Carlos Martinez said. “So, I’m just hoping that we get more of a closure after The Return of the Jedi.”

Disney is capitalizing on the world’s love of the franchise. Darth Vader heads, Yoda dolls and Star Wars apparel line department stores shelves. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Tim Nollen, an analyst with Macquarie Securities, Star Wars merchandise could bring in as much as $5 billion in the next year.

In ticket sales, it might make a new opening weekend record. With about $50 million made in pre-sales already, the movie is estimated to make $615 million the opening weekend alone and at least $1.5 billion at the box office worldwide.

“Disney is going out of proportion,” senior Luke Fangman said. “But they picked a good director, so it shouldn’t suck.”

In late 2012, Disney bought the rights to Lucasfilm. This left fans excited about the possibility of new films.

“Disney for the most part does a very good job from what I’ve seen,” Martinez said. “Besides the fact that they’re taking over pretty much everything, they do have good script writing and their funds are good. Anytime Disney gets a hold of a franchise they usually do very well. I’m pretty excited to see how Disney is going to take this and run with it and see how they can bring it back to life because as far as the Star Wars movies, I believe the newer ones weren’t the best, it think they could have been better and the previews for this one look like they are. So hopefully Disney can take it up a notch and revive the whole Star Wars franchise.”

It was clear people’s excitement for the newest addition to the space adventure series considering the Internet crashed down when the trailer was released, then watched 122 million times in a 24-hour span. Then multiple sites pre-selling tickets for the movie either went down or moved slower than normal, but that’s what happens when a nation unites to buy tickets for one movie on the same night.

But don’t fret Star Wars fans, your wait is nearly over. The movie premieres Dec. 18, where we’ll see new faces and some familiar ones – Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher return as their original characters once more on the big screen.

“This movie is going to be the highlight of the year,” Davis said. “I’m more excited about Star Wars than bacon.”